Monday, March 29, 2004
Good Friends Part II

Today was so beautiful that when I stepped out of my building, I took a deep breath...smiled...and exhaled, only to hear a giggle from Amelia who caught me in such a moment. I walked across campus shining my apple on the jacket that I wished I didn't put on, and marveling at the weather, the kind of weather that makes me wonder why I put on socks and closed toed shoes. The sun was out and with the breeze drying my wet, Pantened hair, I was in a good mood. I love weather like this, and how it can instantly change my mood. We're lucky to live in a world where this can happen, and I'm even luckier to have friends who, like the sun, can do such things to me.

Tudor with his Transylvanian accent and shamless exhibitionism. How he takes photos of himself the way he was made, naked. And then posts them online. I love the way he captures stories and feelings with rich words that make you feel as if you were there with him, inside his heart feeling the same, or wishing so. He makes me want to keep reading, hoping that maybe I'll come across one of his published pieces.

Jackson and the way he looks in black. With his oversized belt buckles and 12 year old face that is deceiving, because he has more piercings and tattoos than is appropriate for a 12 year old (or most adults). His endless pacing and refusal to eat because he wants everything to be perfect makes me want to buy him an endless supply of cookies and massages just to see that 12 year old smile.

Jason and the way he asks for my input. How it makes me feel intelligent, as if I were an academic. I love the way he can be a 21 year old at one moment then a 7 year old at the next, writing papers on rituals and then getting food all over his face. I love his support and him next to me in the morning. Most of all, I love the way he inspires me to achieve so much more.

It was at the Interdisciplinary Arts Conference on Friday that I finally realized that my life at Laurier has been graced by some wonderful characters. People who make me realize how I want so badly to be an intellectual, an academic, a better person. A Religion & Culture wannabe so much that I attend lectures on Jesus that end up going way over my head. People who speak of intellectual bilingualism, crossing the boundaries between disciplines, and letting our beliefs go beyond the usual frame of reference. Maybe it is then that we can dance.